Some teams just have your number. This season, its been the Colorado Avalanche edging the Flames in all three contests, and all by a 3-2 count in regulation time. With the division being as close as it is, you can almost look directly at these games as one reason the Flames have not pulled ahead. All were winnable games, but in all three Calgary couldn’t find the bounces or the puck luck and all the points went to the Avalanche. The Flames get another crack at it tonight, but the Ave’s find themselves just 1 point back and would love to keep their luck alive in the Saddledome.
On The Line
Calgary does stand alone in 1st place in the NW, but at this point that is mostly a formality. Colorado and Vancouver each sit just 1 point back, and Minnesota has crept in to the picture just 8 points back. The Flames want to win this game, not just to keep their division lead, but to break the goose egg against the Avalanche this season and to get some respect back for their home ice play. Calgary is coming off arguably their most spirited effort of the season, a 3-2 shootout win in Vancouver which featured some heart and emotion which the Flames rarely wear on their sleeve. It will be interesting to see how that energy transfers to this equally important divisional game.
The Flow
The first period started off the way the Flames wanted it to. The gloves were immediately dropped as on the 1st shift Regehr went toe-to-toe with Chris Stewart that led to some early Flames energy. Just three minutes later, two more fights were in the books as Brian McGrattan and David Koci had a fight for the ages. That fight and the Prust-Rypien fight from Saturday might be the two best fights of the last 5 years for Calgary. McGrattan was throwing haymaker after haymaker, never slowing down and Koci answering right back…just crazy. The very next whistle Brandon Prust took on Cody Mcleod in a short but spirited bout. Then the teams played some hockey, and it was fairly even until Daymond Langkow beat out a Colorado defender and gave Rene Bourque a perfect pass for the one-time goal and Bourque’s 17th of the season. Shots were 6-6 in the period and it went to the break with Calgary leading 1-0.
The second period was looking good for Calgary, as they continued their solid play from the first. They were playing smart and simple and not giving up any scoring chances. Just four minutes in, Dustin Boyd made it a two goal lead with his 6th of the year after McGrattan fired a shot that rebounded to Boyd who back-handed the puck past an out of position Anderson. Calgary was coasting until Olli Jokinen took an interference penalty which led to a Paul Stastny goal, as he deflected a shot from the point by Liles which sailed past a screened Kiprusoff to get the Avalanche on the board. Then at 16:17, Colorado tied it up when Chris Steward surprised everyone when he fired a shot from far away against the flow on the ice, everyone was moving right – he shot left and the puck squeezed between the right pad of Kiprusoff and the right post. Calgary had controlled the play all game, but they headed to the 3rd period all squared up.
The third period was all Calgary. and when I say all, I mean at one point, at the halfway mark through the period, Sportsnet showed the scoring chances in the period at 10-0 in favour of the Flames. They went on to register about ten more to Colorado maybe garnering one or two, but the Flames could not solve Craig Anderson even with the gift of a late powerplay. The game went to Overtime tied at two, and you could almost feel what was coming after all the bad Flames luck.
Overtime was again all Calgary. A short 5-on-3 powerplay was unsuccessful, as well as the other two minutes of one man advantage Calgary had in OT. Chance after chance and shot after shot were denied by the Avalanche tenacious shot blocking and Craig Anderson’s heroics. Off to the shootout.
Calgary elected to shoot last, and Milan Hejduk opened the scoring with a top shelf forehand. Nigel Dawes attempted a five-hole deke and almost squeaked it through but the puck slid just wide. Matt Duchene was stopped by Kiprusoff on a forehand shot, and Olli Jokinen tied it at 1-1 with a slick forehand wrister on Anderson’s blocker side. Chris Stewart fooled Kiprusoff with a five-hole deke, and Jamie Lundmark couldn’t duplicate the magic from Saturday as he fumbled the puck and didn’t get a shot off. Avalanche win, surprise surprise…3-2.
Three Stars
1. Craig Anderson: He faced 46 shots and stopped 44 of them, half of them coming in the 3rd and overtime alone. Completely stole a game from the Flames who rightly deserved to win.
2. Rene Bourque: One goal for his 17th of the year, but provided spark for the Flames all evening. Best Flames forward, with Iginla a close 2nd.
3. Paul Stastny: One goal and One assist for the Avalanche forward who led their forward ranks in icetime with over 23 minutes.
Big Save
With 45 seconds left in Overtime, Nigel Dawes shot a rebound from the right side at the seemingly open net. Craig Anderson stacked the pads just in time to deny Dawes and the Flames from breaking this curse.
Big Hit
Rene Bourque and Nigel Dawes converged on Kyle Cumiskey at the same time, with Bourque getting the larger chunk of the Colorado defencemen. The thundering double hit left Bourque with a boarding penalty, but likely left Cumiskey with a sore torso.
The Goat
Nobody really. The hockey gods maybe? Losing to a team 4 consecutive times by the same score has to really be eating on Calgary right now, especially with how well they played tonight. Just one of those sports curses that pops up from time to time. Happens to everyone. Colorado = 2010 kryptonite.
Mr. Clutch
Mr. Clutch usually doesn’t go to a player from the losing team, but Mark Giordano played yet another gem of a game. This time, leading the Flames in icetime with 28:09. He has been the Flames best defenceman for about a month now.
Odds and Ends
Does Mark Giordano ever play a bad game anymore? Can’t remember the last time I saw the guy make a mistake. Had to laugh at Giordano directing Iginla on the Powerplay, this guy has really become a legitimate top 3 defenseman, working his way to a top 2. Speaking of Iginla, I thought he was very good. Lots of jump and lots of chances, just no finish. Seemed a little nervous to shoot the puck. The McGrattan-Koci fight was a sight to behold. Look up the highlights if you haven’t already seen it…you won’t be disappointed. Why did Calgary go against the grain and choose to not shoot first in the shootout. Isn’t the stat something like 80% of teams that shoot first win. Bad choice in my books. Calgary outshot Colorado 46-21, with Jokinen leading the way registering 7. Iginla was fairly blatantly hooked near the end of overtime…I know the refs had already handed Colorado 2 late penalties, but that was as obvious as it gets…huge mistake there by the officials. Its funny, when I see a player pass on an odd-man rush I think “Why didnt you shoot!?” But when I saw Dawes tonight on 2 different odd man rushes elect to shoot instead of pass, I yelled “Why didn’t you pass?!”. I guess they can’t win with that…never good enough unless they score.
Next Up
One of the more anticipated games of the year, as Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins come to the Saddledome on Wednesday night, 7:30 PM on glorious TSN HD.
Lines:
Lundmark – Jokinen – Iginla
Bourque – Langkow – Dawes
Glencross – Nystrom – Moss
McGrattan – Boyd – Prust
Regehr – Phaneuf
Giordano – Bouwmeester
Pardy – Sarich
Kiprusoff
